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Curtain Rises on Mother Marianne's West Side Kitchen

UC Play Based on Real-Life Stories of Utica's Poor

Written By Colleen Bierstine '15, PR Intern

A complex portrait of what it means to be poor in America

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cleogrande@utica.edu

Utica, NY (11/06/2013)

- Utica College’s Department of Performing and Fine Arts will present its fall play “Mother Marianne’s West Side Kitchen,” created by Ann Carey and Shannon Enders, adjunct lecturers of theatre, with the help of Theatre for Social Reform students.

“Mother Marianne’s West Side Kitchen” is a full-length production based on first-person narratives of profoundly poor Utica residents. The group conducted personal interviews in Mother Marianne’s West Side Soup Kitchen in Utica and recorded the back stories of people who rely on the soup kitchen for survival. The stories are shaped into a series of surprisingly candid monologues and scenes. It is a complex portrait about what it means to be poor in America.

Each story depicts the raw struggles and backgrounds of real Utica citizen living in poverty. From one man’s powerful story of remaining optimistic throughout a turbulent childhood and remaining perseverant and hardworking to a woman’s battle with a malignant tumor, each story is gripping and honest.

The curtain will rise on Nov. 7, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. It will be held in Strebel Auditorium in UC’s Strebel Student Center. Tickets will be available at the door, for $4, general admission.

For more information, contact Marijean Levering, associate professor and director of theatre, at mlevering@utica.edu or (315) 792-3234.

About Utica College – Utica College, founded in 1946, is a comprehensive private institution offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The College, located in upstate central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls more than 4,000 students in 38 undergraduate majors, 29 minors, 20 graduate programs and a number of pre-professional and special programs.

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Founded in 1946, UC is a comprehensive institution that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.